I have the same Denon receiver I bought in 1990. I kept the same system Denon 1025/Sonographe cd/vandersteen 2c for ten years until going on a major upgrade binge.
Right now, The ARC vt100m2, quattro-fil ic's and Audio Physic Avanti's are probably the most stable components in my system. I've had the ARC for about 1.5 years and the avanti's for about a year. I'm thinking of selling the sony scd-1 sacd player (I listen to mostly vinyl), and upgrading the phono stage and/or turntable (I have a rega 25).
I too have found that once my system reached a certain place 'where I wanted it to be', I have not really been searching around for anything better. I like the combination of warmth and detail I get from my ph3/vk-5i/vt100 combination. I've had my system with more bass (vandersteen 5's), higher detail level (pass labs pre/amp), and even more warmth (sonic frontiers sfm-160's). In the last two years, I've owned 9 different amplifiers, 5 preamps, 7 sets of speakers, and three cd players. I cannot accurately count the number of cables.
I am now more into finding great vinyl. In a lot of ways I prefer vinyl to SACD. There is something very relaxing about it when played on an all-tube system. I completely agree about the minimalist advances in audio systems. I KNOW that I've gotten more enjoyment from my turntable than my SACD player. It's fun 'discovering' old artists on vinyl. I consider a turntable to be the most essential of playback systems.
